Wishing I could play – Children’s art competition in Quetta

Balochistan has the highest number of cases in any province of Pakistan, largely centred on the Quetta area. This drawing shows a vaccination centre, with community members informing each other about polio vaccination at the centre. A polio-affected child with crutches watches children playing and wishes he could join their play. Drawn by Fazeela, 6th grade

Drawn by an 8th grader from a local government school of Kharotabad, where three cases of polio have been confirmed in 2011, this picture shows a polio-affected child and other children. A mother of a polio survivor talks to a vaccinator, warning her to tell parents, "Never repeat the mistake I committed, my child is crippled. I request all the parents to vaccinate their children against polio.” Drawn by Fida Mohammad, 8th grade

Fifty students from ten schools of four high risk union councils participated in the drawing competition. Here, religious leaders and tribal members are marching, holding banners with slogans of a polio free Pakistan. The child shows in her art the active community participation from both religious and non-religious communities that is critical for polio to be eradicated. Drawn by Shakila Khan, 7th grade

Within the five high risk districts of Balochistan, 70 union councils in have been classified as high risk on the basis of persistent transmission, low quality campaigns, mobile population and hard to reach areas due to insecurity. Here, a polio affected child watches other children playing and thinks, “If only my parents had vaccinated me against polio I would have been playing like these children.” Drawn by Neelam Khan, 7th grade

Polio can’t be cured, but it can be prevented. Two important tools help to prevent polio – two safe, effective vaccines. Find out about the oral polio vaccine and the inactivated poliovirus vaccine and their roles in the polio eradication effort.